Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia covered the areas that are now modern-day Iraq and parts of Syria, Kuwait, Iran and Turkey. The kingdom is considered by many to be the cradle of civilisation because agriculture, animal herding and domestication started there much earlier than anywhere else, around 8000 years ago. Once people could grow enough food to stay in one place, rather than the nomadic lifestyle of previous generations, the structures of civilisation as we know it could start to be built. It was one of the first places to develop the wheel and writing to boot.

That’s all well and good, but it certainly wasn’t all civilised. When a man of stature passed on to the dark side he would take with him courtiers, guards, musicians, hand maids and grooms. Just in case heaven didn’t have any spares I guess. It was presumed for quite a while that these people were poisoned, but recent archaeological evidence from a royal cemetery in Ur, Iraq suggests that these poor people were stabbed in the skull with a large spike. So not that civilised.

☛ More Death: Graham Frederick Young: The 14 Year Old Serial Killer